I recently had a very unsavoury experience dealing with a client who left it until the very last minute to obtain a birth certificate. At first, he tried to talk his way around having to show me a birth certificate, and when I insisted it was the law that I see his (he was born here so must, by law, show his birth certificate to be able to marry), he became verbally abusive.

At one point he accused me of "not doing enough" to help him get his birth certificate - something I can't understand because I had provided him with the application forms for the interstate registry in his state of birth, as well as other relevant information for him to be able to apply for the certificate. He certainly knew six months ahead of the wedding that he needed to provide his birth certificate.

To cut a long story short, the interstate registry rushed through his application and his birth certificate arrived two days before the wedding. The marriage took place and this man is now married. He subsequently did apologise to me for the things he said in anger, which I appreciated. At the end of the day, I have a job to do that involves following the law. I cannot cut corners at any time or I could end up committing an offence and end up in jail - something I have no desire to do.